- Toronto's Avison Young Sees Capital Markets Improving in 2nd Half
- NAI Global Predicts More Buying Opportunities Coming This Year
- Clark Street Capital Selling Prime $200M Portfolio in Chicago
- Chattanoonga's CBL Closes $72M Non-Recourse Loan in Illinois
- Equity Resource Raises $37M from New Acquisition Fund
- New Faces at Morgan Stanley and Avant Capital
(TORONTO, CANADA) -- Avison Young's National Forecast on the international realty capital markets doesn't paint a rosy picture for 2010.
The report shows Canadian real estate market fundamentals, "though shaken, remain relatively intact, while U.S. markets continue to shoulder the brunt of the downturn with recovery expected to be longer and drawn out."
Mark Rose
"Due to government intervention, the concept of distressed selling and buying did not materialize anywhere in North America" in 2009, Rose says.
"The U.S. government put money into the major banks, which in turn, extended every loan they could to avoid realizing losses.
"The Securities and Exchange Commission watched from the sidelines and allowed the impacted lenders to postpone the inevitable."
Rose sees 2010 "shaping up to be more of the same, but with a slightly positive bias.
"Fundamentals have firmed; decision makers are getting their sea legs back; and the second half of 2010 should produce favorable comparisons to 2009."
This, in turn, "will drive the confidence we have been sorely missing and allow for activity to return to more normal levels," says the head of Canada's largest independently owned commercial real estate company.
Rose adds, "With that said, before recovery can occur in 2010, private markets must solve their own problems, even if that means capitulation; the bid and ask spreads need to narrow; and we must see job growth in North America."
(PRINCETON, NJ) -- NAI Global sees 2010 as a year that will see more banks and financial institutions seriously cleaning up their balance sheets and moving more aggressively to dispose of commercial real estate loans and financially distressed real estate assets.
Such activity should generate new investment opportunities, the report indicates.
"The short leases of multifamily would be a pretty good hedge against inflation, particularly if you had long-term fixed rate debt in place through Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac)," says NAI Global chief economist Peter D. Linneman.
"Multifamily held up better in the recession until the capital markets fell apart, and as they fell apart, multifamily production fell to the lowest level in the last 60 years," says Linneman who is also a principal at Linneman Associates in Princeton, NJ.
He adds, "That will pick up, though more slowly (than single-family) because it's more capital market dependent."
Linneman believes "the Recession has been over for six months." He is confident "job growth is just months away, but the fact remains it will be impossible to predict what will happen next.
"With significant tax, health care and regulatory proposals still in the offing, there is little clarity as to the ultimate outcomes or costs."
He adds, "We're concerned with commercial mortgage delinquency rates, as they have been on the rise and could keep the commercial real estate industry in neutral for several more months."
(CHICAGO, IL) -- Clark Street Capital, a one-year-old, private equity fund, has picked up an exclusive portfolio contract to market eight pools of high-quality assets valued at $200 million.
About 90 percent of the for-sale multifamily, mixed-use, residential, commercial and land assets are in metropolitan Chicago.
Jon Winick
Winick says the eight pools "offer potential investors an exclusive opportunity to make either a broad or a more granular play in the Chicago market."
He says the properties are located "in some of the Chicago area's most desirable neighborhoods and are among some of the most sought-after types of assets in today's market."
The pools are arranged by property type and asset quality. They include multifamily properties (2--4); multifamily properties (5+); mixed-use properties of various performance types; performing single-family residences and condominiums; performing retail and office assets; sub-performing and non-performing retail and office assets; and residential and commercial development land.
(CHATTANOOGA, TN) -- CBL & Associates Properties Inc. (NYSE: CBL) has closed a $72 million non-recourse loan secured by St. Clair Square shopping center in Fairview Heights, IL.
John N. Foy
Foy says the new loan deal "marks the continued financing successes of CBL."
In 2009, CBL refinanced or extended more than $1.6 billion in mortgage loans and credit facilities.
"These included the extension of its three major credit facilities, while maintaining full lending capacity, aggregating $1.2 billion, as well as successfully addressing nine property-specific mortgages or construction loans totaling more than $360 million," Foy says.
He adds, "We are proud of our financing achievements and continue to demonstrate our ability to access credit and financial resources."
Foy says CBL is "well under way with refinancing efforts for our 2010 maturities and are confident that we will successfully address all of our maturities while continuing our conservative approach of laddering maturities into the future."
(CAMBRIDGE, MA) -- Privately held Equity Resource Investments LLC has closed its Equity Resource Fund 2009 Limited Partnership after raising $37 million.
ERI managing director Eggert Dagbjartsson says Fund 2009 will invest in all classes of real estate, largely in the U.S., although the company co-manages another real estate fund that invests exclusively in Asia.
The planned investments will be primarily through acquisition of fractional equity interest, direct real estate investments, joint venture participations, merger transactions, and other opportunistic investments "on a high value, risk-adjusted basis."
Dagbjartsson says, "Having dry powder when capital is scarce allows ERI investors access to attractive transactions in superior properties."
He says the company "strongly believes that times of financial distress represent exceptional opportunities to make investments."
The 29-year-old, Cambridge, MA-based firm invests funds for high-net worth individuals, registered investment advisors, brokers and dealers, family offices and institutional investors.
(NEW YORK, NY and GREENWICH, CT) -- John R. Klopp, a former investment partner with Chicago's Sam Zell, is the new Head of Americas Real Estate Investing and Global Real Estate Debt Investing at New York City-based Morgan Stanley.
Sam Zell
Klopp comes to Morgan Stanley from Capital Trust Inc. (NYSE: CT), a firm he co-founded with Zell in 1997. Klopp also was a founder and managing partner of Victor Capital Group LP, a private merchant banking boutique that specialized in workouts and distressed debt investing.
In Greenwich, CT, Avant Capital Partners has hired Thomas Miller as a principal. Miller's responsibilities will include deal origination and placement, development of the company's structured finance program, and the expansion of capital partnerships.
Miller comes to Avant from New York City-based JPS Capital Partners LLC where he was director and head of asset management.
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